Strange Things
by ihearttheband
Summary: This girl is shrouded in mystery. Her parents had strange connections she didn't know of. She was searching for information on her own until she ran face first into Ed. Why is she so important to their quest and what's the deal with her cat? This will be a mix between my own original plots, FMAB and FMA animes. EdxOC Rated T for Language and implied situations.
1. Chapter 1

Edward sighed for the thousandth time. He was getting agitated with the silence. Alphonse had been ignoring him due to a slight disagreement. It was so stupid! Over a little cat at that.

"Al, it's just not possible! How do you keep finding them anyway? I swear you must have some kind of cat attractant hidden somewhere!"

"There is something special about this cat, brother! Let's at least keep it for a little while!"

"NO. We can't take care of a kitten! We don't even stay anywhere permanent!"

"Brother! Please?"

"NOO! We just can't do it Al!"

They were starting to cause a small scene walking down the road to their hotel room.

"Al, look at the cat! She obviously isn't a stray anyways. She's too well fed. Even out of the trash cans, cats don't look that healthy."

"I guess you're right brother, but there is just something special about this cat."

Al shoved the cat into Ed's face. Ed sighed again but looked at the cat and his eyes widened marginally. There was something otherworldly about this cat.

"I see what you mean, but we should find its owner."

"Okay, brother." Al resigned.

Al set the cat down, but the brindle thing followed him.

"We are almost to the hotel, we have to stay here a few days so you can keep the cat until you find its owner or we leave."

"Thank you brother." Al said cheerfully.

As they rounded the corner, Ed ran smack into someone.

"Dammit. That hurt! Watch where you're going!" Ed said.

"Sorry," a female voice started and then was interrupted by Al.

"Please don't apologize, brother you shouldn't be so rude." He scolded his brother while helping the girl up.

"No, it's ok. I wasn't really watching where I was going…even though I was looking at the ground, I still didn't see you. My name is Tala."

Ed's eyes narrowed at the girl while Al introduced them.

"Was that a short joke?" He half growled.

The cat started hissing at him.

"Brinley! There you are!"

"Is she your cat?" Al asked.

They both completely ignored Ed.

"No, not really. More like I'm the person she has chosen to follow for now."

"She seems pretty special."

Ed tuned them out. Talking about a damn cat. Ed scoffed, but evaluated the girl in front of Al. She was shorter than him. Her braided hair was dark brown and came down over her shoulder and ended under her bottom rib. She wore black fatigue like pants that tucked into her black leather laced up boots. Her black shirt was cutoff at the stomach, showing off her piercing. It was long sleeved and skin tight as well. He could see a slight muscle tone in her arms and stomach, indicating she did some sort of physical labor or sport. She was tanned, which meant she spent a lot of time outdoors. Looking at her face though, that's what startled him.

Her eyes were the oddest shade of brown. They seemed to be dark brown but at the same time reflected hints of gold. Her face was slightly rounded and bangs swooped off to the side. The top of her hair had a few lightened streaks through it which contrasted against the dark tone. Ed's eyes narrowed at the seemingly innocent female.

"Just who are you? You aren't from Amestris, are you? You don't look like a Xingese or an Ishvallan. You have similar features of the Cretans, but you don't have the stature of one."

"Excellent observation! You have more common sense than they say!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT" he yelled.

"Oh, everyone says the Full Metal Alchemist is amazingly intelligent, especially as far as alchemy is concerned, but has very little common sense. Tends to rush head first into things."

"Now that's a back handed compliment if I ever heard one."

Tala shrugged her shoulders.

"Take it how you will."

"So, if you aren't from around here, then where are you from?" Al asked, a lot more politely than his brother had.

"Honestly, I don't really remember. When I was younger, I traveled different places with my mother's sister. My parents had been killed and my aunt didn't like to talk about them so I don't really know anything. When she died, I was kind of left on my own, so I continue to travel on my own."

"Wow. That must have been difficult to get used to." Al said sympathetically.

"Nah. I was kind of used to being on my own anyway. Auntie certainly wasn't the most familial of sorts."

"Well, where are you headed now?" Al was just full of questions for the female.

"I'm not really sure. I usually just follow my instincts and go wherever they take me."

"Do you have any goal in mind?"

"I'm searching for something."

Ed studied her movements as she talked. Her posture and body language spoke that she wasn't lying about what she said.

_Strange, though. She has no knowledge of her family. Her aunt seems suspicious though. Why would someone hide information like that?_

"So are you staying at this hotel too?" Al asked.

"Yeah!" She said cheerfully.

"Why don't you hang out with me and brother?"

"Al, are you asking so that cat can stick around?"

"No! Well, not entirely. It's not often we get to talk to some one who has traveled as much or more than us!"

"Al can see Brinley whenever he wants," Tala said cheerfully, "she usually follows who ever she wants. She's actually very intelligent. She wanders wherever she wants. Sometimes she separates from me at times and meets back up with me in another place."

It was really the first thing she said, specifically directed to Edward.

"Is it some kind of chimera?" Ed asked.

"No. As far as I can tell, she is just a regular cat with some extraordinary talents."

"What kind of talents?"

"If she chooses to show you herself, then you will know."

Ed rolled his eyes, tired of the cat already.

"Well, I'm headed in. You two can stay and chat, or whatever."

"Tala, would you like to hang out with us?"

"I don't know...It seems to me that you two are ready to relax for the night. Brinley and I couldn't impose. Besides, we have got to get back to our own room."

The trio walked into the inn with the brindle colored cat behind them. Al and Tala still conversing while Ed went to pay for their room.

"Alright, Al. Our room number is 230."

Tala gave Ed a strange look.

"Really? You are right across the hall from us. There was scientist in that room. When I talked to him, he told me he was staying there for the next two weeks."

"That's really not unusual." Ed said.

"I guess you're right. It just feels weird though."

Tala walked with them to the hallway their rooms were located in.

"If the scientist were to suddenly leave, would he have left his research papers scattered across the floor?" Ed asked rhetorically.

"No. Especially if they meant as much to the scientist as they did to Dr. Marcoh." Tala replied in the same shocked tone Ed had used.


	2. Chapter 2

"Dr. Marcoh?" Ed repeated.

"Yeah. He was a really nice man," she started.

The three of them had just stood, looking over the room.

"There are definitely signs of a struggle." She finished her sentence after a slight pause.

"I didn't know he was still alive.'' Ed walked into the room, looking over everything.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the last time we saw him, it wasn't exactly under good circumstances." Al told her.

"I can't imagine why anyone would want to hurt him. He was really a good man."

"Everyone has their secrets, Tala, even you." Ed told her.

"I suppose that's true enough. What do you think happened?"

Tala looked back to the door handle.

"Ed, come look at this."

Ed had been over by the window examining it.

"This part of the door was fixed with alchemy." Ed said.

"So they must have kicked in the door. I wonder how this happened and no one noticed."

Ed shook his head. There were many possibilities he was thinking of.

"Perhaps they didn't kick it in. Maybe they used alchemy to open and then returned it to its original state."

Al stood in the corner of the room watching his brother and this girl, Tala, work together to determine what had happened in this room. He barely contained his grin. They worked well together. Ed normally didn't have much patience for anyone beside himself. The two finished inspecting the room and gather notes.

After discussing the possibilities of someone coming back for the notes, they decided to go sit in Tala's room, since it had two beds as well and Al didn't need one. Tala sat on the bed closest to the window, giving Ed the one closer to the door. Al told them he would go and pick up something to eat while they went over the notes of the missing Doctor. After spending just a few moments reviewing the notes, Tala noticed a trend. She jumped up off her bed and hurried to the supplied writing desk where her shoulder bag sat. After she pulled out a few pieces of loose paper and a pen, she called out to Ed.

"Sort the pages by the number in the corner. If there isn't a number in the corner, discard the page."

Ed did as she said, and ended up with only five pages out of the stack given to him.

"Hey, bring me your half of the stack." Tala called again.

Ed brought them over to her and stood over her shoulder watching what she was doing. That's how Al found them.

"Hey, Al. Check this out. Tala cracked Dr. Marcoh's code pretty fast on this one."

"That's good! I brought you back some food. Sorry it took so long. Brinley insisted on leading me to a small café two blocks down."

"Really, Al? You followed a cat?"

"I love Brinley! She knows that's my favorite café." Tala beamed at him.

"Well, I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I just picked a few things that sounded good."

"Thanks, Al. I love all their food, so I'm sure whatever it is, it's good."

"The cat…that makes no sense. How the hell does the cat know anything like that?" Ed insisted.

"She isn't a normal cat." Tala and Al responded simultaneously.

"Obviously." Ed stated.

Al sat all the food out for Ed and Tala.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"Nah. There was a little girl crying outside the café, so I took her in and ate dinner with her. She was upset about her puppy running away. After she ate, I transmuted her a puppy figurine."

"That's so sweet, Al."

If it were possible for Al's armor to blush, he would have. He smiled at her even though he felt bad about lying to her about eating.

"Well, check out these notes. When Dr. Marcoh wrote them, he threw in one word that made no sense. After that, there is an inconsistency in his writing. One letter is capitalized while all the others are lower cased. Some are underlined. After pulling out all these and piecing them together, Tala figured out why his notes were scattered."

"That's awesome! You're as smart as brother Tala!" Al beamed at her and she blushed.

_** Tala,**_

_** I hope you are able to figure out this code. I will admit it is sporadic, but you are a smart girl. There are things watching me as I write this. They think I am writing my research. These things are called homunculi. They are very dangerous creatures and they want something your father passed to you. I knew your father. I knew you had to be his daughter immediately. You have his eyes. That same golden brown. Your mother, I never knew. You father was of mixed races. He was part Cretan and Xingese on his mother's side. Your father named you 'Tala' for the golden wolf. I know you were always curious about your family history. That is all I can give. It is a matter of urgency that I write this. You must find the Elric Brothers. They can help you on your quest. Please, stay with them and stay safe. These research papers on phony. A false trail to hide the ones already hidden. Remember this always, Look for the truth behind the truth. One of the last few pages have some more information on how to use your alchestry. **_

_**Good luck.**_

"Well, that was pretty anticlimactic. I'm not going to lie, I was really expecting something more." Tala said.

"Even though you found out some information on your father?" Al asked.

"It's really not much to go on. He has mixed races but no name. He named me 'golden wolf' of all things. It's really not much to go on."

"It also states the homunculi want something to do with you that your father gave you." Ed said.

"Well, I guess they are shit out of luck then. Anything I might have had of my parents, my aunt either sold, burned or gave away. I have nothing of theirs."

"Well, in any case, you should travel with us!" Al said cheerfully.

"I don't know. I don't really want to be a bother to the two of you."

"You wouldn't! Brother, tell her! We would love to have you with us! It gets boring sometimes with just me and brother. We could always use another friend."

"I guess Al gets bored with my company more than I thought," Ed laughed, putting a hand behind his head, "Either way, the doctor thinks you have something that the homunculi want, which means, they think you have it. You might as well travel with us that way when they do catch up to you, you won't be alone." Ed said.

"Brother, it's not that I get bored with you, it's just nice to have more people around than just us all the time. We really don't make many friends that stay with us. Besides, Dr. Marcoh made it clear that he wanted her to come find us. There aren't any other 'Elric Brothers' around. Well, unless you count the two who impersonated us." Al laughed at the end of that.

"I guess you're right Al. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide. We can't make that choice for you." Ed told her.

"Well, if you guys don't mind, I can tag along for a little while."

"At least till we figure out what they want with you." Al said.

Tala sat in silence for a minute, thinking things over.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to stick around with you for a while. Especially since you do travel a lot. That means you guys understand my wanderlust and understand why I can't just stay in one place for very long."

"That settles it then! Let's eat and get some sleep. We will have to go see that pompous bastard tomorrow and let him know we are setting out again." Ed laughed.

The rest of the night was rather peaceful. Even though it was comfortable to be around the two boys, whom she discovered were 16 and 15, it was still kind of awkward. She wasn't used to being around others. Her aunt was a bit of a distrustful recluse and never talked to anyone unless she had to. After she died, Tala was left on her own. Tala shook herself out of those memories.

_No use dwelling on them now._

Tala settled down into her bed and it didn't take long at all for her to drift off to sleep.

She woke up before Ed did and noticed Al wasn't in the room. She grabbed her spare change of clothes and headed to the bathroom to change. Her spare outfit consisted of dark blue fatigues and a matching shirt that looked just like the black one she wore. After pulling her clothes on, she padded back over to her bed. Ed was just sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He glanced over at her and noticed she was wearing a dark blue outfit that matched the black one she wore yesterday. She currently had her pants rolled up over her knees, like a pair of capris. He saw that her legs were toned like her arms and stomach too.

_ She must do something to keep in shape. Normal females don't have muscle tone like that_.

He averted his eyes, stretched one last time and stood up. Al was just coming through the door with breakfast.

"Good morning Tala! I didn't realize you were an early riser. I brought breakfast," Al paused and noticed Ed on the other side of the room groggily dressing himself, "Brother, you're up early and without anyone waking you too! Unless, Tala…"

"No! I woke up on my own!" Ed growled.

"Sorry, Tala. Brother isn't much of a morning person."

"It's quite alright Al. I'm used to it. I'm usually up early. You didn't have to go get breakfast."

"That's ok. I was up anyway, so it wasn't too much trouble. I went back to that café you liked. They seem to have really good food! I thought it would be good for breakfast too."

Tala looked around the room.

"Did Brinley leave with you?"

"Yeah. She walked out the door and trotted off on her own."

"OK."

Ed came slightly alive with the smell of food. Ed and Tala ate fast, and packed up. It was time to go see the Colonel.

Ed kicked the door open to Mustang's office, just to annoy him.

"To what do I owe this displeasure? You aren't due on report for another few days."

As Ed was about to say something to annoy Mustang, the colonel caught sight Tala.

"Hello, my dear. It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Colonel Roy Mustang."

The door opened again, revealing a serious looking blonde.

"This is my assistant, Lieutenant Hawkeye."

"Nice to meet you, Colonel, Lieutenant. I'm Tala. Tala Driscol."

"Hmm. That name sounds familiar." Mustang said.

"Well, we are here to let you know we are leaving for a while and don't know when we will back." Ed was slightly annoyed at being ignored.

"Oh! There you are Ed. I forgot you were here. You're so short, I guess I just didn't notice you were still in the room."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALLER THAN ATOM?!"

"Anyway, I take it she is traveling with the two of you now?"

"Yessir." Al responded in a hurried tone. He was still trying to calm his brother down from the short rage.

**A/N. Golden Wolf will be important later. The name Tala (TAH-la) means 'wolf' in Native American and 'gold' in Persian. That is how golden wolf was born. Drisol means 'place that wild roses grow.' I welcome Reviews and Flames. **


	3. Chapter 3

Tala shook her head.

_Wow. He is really sensitive about his height. It's kind of...pathetic._

It took too long for the situation to diffuse, so Tala took matters into her own hands.

THUMP

Mustang and Al looked shocked. Ed stood up rubbing his head.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO TO ME?"

"I dropped kicked you."

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

"We don't have time to argue over something so stupid. We need to be heading out soon. I am still perfectly capable of leaving you behind."

"THEN DO IT ALREADY!"

"Bye."

She walked towards the door, completely ready to leave Edward and Alphonse behind. She didn't have time for this. She had to go to the next place on her list.

"Halt, Driscol."

"No offense, but I don't really have time for all this. I have places to be and people to see."

"What is so important you would leave like that?" Mustang asked her.

"No offense, but I don't really have to answer you. I'm not part of the military."

"Hmmm…Are you familiar with the name Della Driscol?"

"Supposedly that was my grandmother."

"Supposedly?" Mustang asked.

"Yeah. I don't exactly know much about my family."

"Fair enough. I have an assignment for you, Full Metal."

"What?" Ed's voice soured.

He had a feeling he wasn't going to like this at all, judging by the look on Mustang's face.

"I need you follow the directions on this paper."

Ed scanned over the paper and responded "What the hell? Are you serious?"

"As a dog of the military, you have to follow orders, and these come from the fuhrer's office."

"This keeps getting more ridiculous. You want us to go scout out some rumors about Scar? You know damn well he will appear when he feels like it. No one has been able to keep track of him."

"Just get going Full Metal. Take the two of them with you. Maybe the girl can keep you out of trouble."

Ed slammed the door shut after Al and Tala walked out.

"I can't believe what a jack ass he is." Ed huffed.

"He is a pretty nosey bastard." Tala agreed.

"So, Tala, where are you headed? You were pretty antsy to get out of HQ."

"I want to find Doc and make sure he's alright. I think I should start in the town he called home."

"Where was that at?" Ed asked, having already guessed the answer.

"Some place called Resembool. He spoke highly of it. He told me he had never seen a more beautiful county side. I know almost exactly where his house is."

"Resembool, you say?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, have you heard of it?" Tala turned to look at Ed as they walked to the train station.

"Yeah, we've been there a time or two." Ed said nonchalantly.

Silence fell around them as they continued walking. They rounded the corner and made it to the train station. Ed and Tala sat on the bench while Al went and paid for three tickets to Resembool.

"I don't really feel comfortable with you paying for everything. You've paid for the food yesterday and this morning as well as my train ticket."

Ed leaned back and put his hands behind his head and shrugged her off.

"Don't worry about it. Think of it as the state paying for it."

She just continued to frown.

"What's wrong now?" Ed asked her.

"It just doesn't feel right. The way I was raised, if I wanted or needed something, it was up to me to find a way to get it. I was taught to never accept handouts or charity."

"It's not handouts or charity. Friends are supposed to do what they can to help each other out. Besides, like Ed told you, it's really the state paying for it. They pay for all our expenses while we travel." Al was trying to explain to her, but she just frowned.

It went against everything she was taught. In order to survive, one did not accept help from others. One did not place trust in anyone and one never lets their guard down, for anyone. Tala followed the boys onto the train and to their seat. Ed sat closest to the window, leaving her the seat by the door and Al sat across from them. Tala was still lost in thought. There just had to be a catch of some sort. People don't do things out of kindness.

"What's bugging yah?" Ed asked her.

"Hm? Nothing. I was just thinking about my aunt."

"Yeah, that's pretty crazy. Your dad is part Xingese and Cretan? They are both pretty far away."

"Yeah. I don't even know what he looks like, or my mother. My aunt told me they were killed when I was just a baby and she was left with the burden of raising me."

"That's harsh. It's not like you were able to do anything about the situation." Ed said.

"My aunt was a strict woman. She was very 'no nonsense' and stern."

"She has a twisted sense of loyalty too. I will be the first one say that you can't trust anyone around you, except for a small few people, but even I know if I didn't have someone I could trust, this life would be a burden."

"We always traveled around, never really stayed in an area long enough to make friends or any of that."

"Well, you have me and brother now. I'm sure Winry would love you too." Alphonse told her, smiling.

"Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment."

Ed started laughing at her.

"Brother, that's rude."

"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to insult you, even if you are being stupid. You have a lot to learn about friendship. It's not a sentiment. It's a fact. Even if we don't become friends, you are still stuck with me and Al. You knew Dr. Marcoh, and he was important to mine and Al's search. He told you to find us so we could protect you. The things watching Dr. Marcoh are an enemy like you have never seen before." Ed stated seriously. "I think it's time we swapped stories." He continued.

"I don't really have much to tell. I don't know anything about my parents. The only clue I have is the story of the Golden Wolf, the few bits of information from my aunt and Dr. Marcoh. He told me a story on the first night I was in Central."

"Wow. So you are pretty clueless about your family then huh?" Ed asked her.

"Yeah. I was very serious when I said that. I have a note I found inside a locket, it was from my mom to my dad. It was the only thing my aunt kept of my parents. There isn't even a photo of them in the locket. Just something about the stone of false hope."

"Hm." Ed took a serious look on his face. "You know what that sounds like, Al."

"A stone of false hopes. It sounds to me like another philosopher's stone."

"Exactly." Ed said.

"A philosopher's stone? I don't know why my parents would be interested in something like that. The few things I have heard about my parents, is that they were traveling philanthropists during their lives. They were killed on a missionary trip in Ishbal."

Ed and Al looked at each other.

"Before the war started?" Ed questioned.

"Yeah. They were there to help with the peace mission."

"Who are your parents?" Al asked her calmly.

"Adelaide and Tao Driscol."

"Tao is definitely a Xingese name, but Driscol doesn't sound Cretan. In fact, Driscol was the name of the old rulers of Drachma."

"Well, my father was Cretan and Xingese on his mother's side according to Dr. Marcoh. So it's possible he was Drachman on his father's. It's not like I really know a lot about the family history."

"Adelaide sounds like a name used a lot in Southern Amestris. You really are a mutt aren't yah?" Ed laughed, teasing Tala.

**THUNK**

She drop kicked Ed. Again.

"WHAT THE HELL'S WITH YOU DROP KICKING ME?!" Ed screeched.

"You kind of deserved that, brother."

"Hmmph." Ed crossed his arms over his chest and looked out the window.

"Sorry. Brother tends to get a sense of humor at the wrong times." Al apologized to her.

"It's fine. But it's rather rude to call someone a mutt. Especially when that person has no idea of their family background. Though, I suppose I would rather be called a mutt than short."

"WHO THE HELL YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE COULD RIDE A GRASSHOPPER FOR TRANSPORTATION!"

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET ALL OF THAT FROM ONE WORD!"

"DON'T CALL ME SHORT!"

"THE ONLY THING SHORTER THAN YOU IS YOUR TEMPER!"

By now, Tala and Ed were forehead to forehead, yelling at each other, basically growling at each other.

"Guys, can we not do this now?" Al pointed to the door, ''we are disturbing the other passengers."

When Tala and Ed glanced at the door, they saw people glaring angrily at them for being so loud. They both 'harrumphed' and sat down in the seat pointedly looking away from each other.

_Sigh. I have a feeling these two will butt heads more than Winry and Ed…._

Al's face drooped at that. HE was going to be stuck between the two more often than not, he just knew it. They had a lot of ground to cover. They needed to assess everything and figure out where Tala's strengths lie.

"So, Tala, will you finish what you were saying before brother decided to be rude?"

"Let's just wait till we get to where we are going. I think we all need to catch up on sleep. I will take first watch if you like so you two can sleep. You can't have gotten much sleep last night, Al. You're still real young."

"That's quite alright Tala, I don't really need sleep. I'm um...I'm trained to go on as little sleep as possible."

"Really?" Tala asked, "How is it you are trained to sleep very seldom, but your brother sleeps all the time and sleeps like a rock at that?"

"Oh, well you see, big brother has this…condition…that causes him to sleep a lot."

Al covered pretty fast. He knew that they would have to explain to Tala. They couldn't keep up a charade with her for very long. Dr. Marcoh was right when he said she was a very smart girl.

"Tala, how old are you?" Ed asked her.

"Brother, it's rude to ask a lady her age."

"Nah. It's fine. I'm not exactly raised to be a lady. I'm 17. I think my birthday was last week."

"You think?"

"Well, Auntie never actually told me. She just told me that I was born in June. She usually just picked a day to tell me happy birthday and give me a small gift. It was usually around the 20th though. She didn't keep up with dates. She would always tell me 'You are 14 summers old or what not."

"That's pretty strange. I didn't know anyone still kept up with time like that." Ed stated.

"She was pretty reclusive, like I said. She didn't really keep up with the times. You should have seen her face when I decided to start wearing a different style of clothes!" Tala laughed at the memory. "She hated it! She preferred the era where women dressed to completely cover their bodies. I think she almost had a heart attack when she first saw this." Tala gestured to her belly ring.

"Doesn't that get in the way?" Ed asked.

"Before I got used to it, it did."

"I don't think I've seen anyone with a body piercing like that. Winry's ears are pierced all the way around, but ear piercing are pretty common." Al said.

"Well, there was one time I got separated from my aunt. I was found by a group of nomads in the desert. Their culture is pretty amazing. Belly button piercings are something they do to show honor. It is usually considered a blessing from their God if their leader decides you are worthy. You either have to accomplish some great feat or be born with what they consider a perfect navel. In my case, I guess it was a little bit of both."

"What do you mean?" Ed asked her.

"Well, their leader's son was poisoned by a plant that grows only here in Amestris. My aunt trained me in apothecary so I recognized the signs. My aunt was the suspicious type, so she always made me carry random antidote vials with me. I gave the kid the antidote I had. It took a few weeks, but he made a complete recovery. During that time, the leader blessed me for saving his son. He stated I was double blessed, born with the perfect navel and having saved his son."

"Wow! That's pretty amazing." Al said, while both he and Ed looked at her navel.

"Where did you find this tribe of nomads?" Ed asked her.

"Auntie and I were traveling from Xing. I got lost in a sand storm and they found me in the desert. After I was bestowed with this, I figured I might as well change my look. The 'old lady look' didn't sit well with me like it did my aunt. I have passed through Resembool, twice before. Once when I was really little and then when the nomads dropped me off into Amestris. The left me at the outskirts of town. It was there that I met up with my aunt. We left there and headed south and there is where I decided to have my dresses cut up and turned into something useful."

"Interesting. I didn't know there were nomads living in the desert." Ed said.

"They don't really stay in the desert. They travel all over the world. I was just lucky that someone had found me…" She broke off and her face took on serious expression.

"I don't know why I'm just thinking about it, but I think they knew my parents."

"How do you figure that?" Al asked her.

"Well, they brought up the story of the golden wolf and said a man who matches the descriptions I've heard of my father told them the story."

"Brother and I never heard the story of the golden wolf." Al told her.

"Well, it's a pretty old legend. I've heard it from a few different places. According to the nomads, the golden wolf was a representation of the creator of alchemy. The golden wolf was supposed to be a heroic figure that died a tragic death. She was killed by her own family. Well, I guess I will start at the beginning. The golden wolf was born into a small town family. She, from a young age, showed exemplary skill in many things. She was a fast learner and had an amazing sense of justice. Other legends describe her as a goddess among humans with the ability to shift forms into a golden wolf when she was hunting. She was a bit of a vigilante and served justice that their town wouldn't give. She eventually became a rogue and travelled helping out others who otherwise couldn't help themselves. She decided to venture back to her home a few years later. She was called a witch and a heretic and was captured by the family she wanted to protect. She was burned in the center of the town. Her last words were that they have killed her human body, but never could they destroy her soul. She would always protect those who deserved her protection. In other stories, she created alchemy in the moment of her death to chose ones who would protect people in her place."

"Wow. That's quite a story to be named after." Al and Ed nodded in agreement.


	4. Chapter 4

"Yeah. The nomads told me the story and told me to be proud my father named me after a noble being. Just the way they were about it, they were completely contradictory. They acted as if they knew him but were secretive about it. Anyway, they told me about the Stone of False Hopes as well. They stated they knew a couple hunting for it, though they never said why. The stone is supposed to have amazing properties." She drew contemplative. "According to my aunt, my parents were cursed when they had me. She said I don't look like either of my parents. She would never go into details though. I guess, I really want to find out about this curse and figure out why she said that."

"I've never heard of someone being cursed like that. I don't know much about the beliefs of other nations…what did your aunt look like?" Ed asked.

"Well, she was really tall, she had long blonde hair and stern green eyes."

"She sounds either Amestrian or Drachman. You said she was your mother's sister?" Ed asked.

"Yeah. Her name was Seralyn. Seralyn Breda."

"Like, Heymans Breda?" Ed deadpanned.

"I've never heard that name before."

"Hm. Well, 2nd LT Breda works for Colonel Pompous Ass. The next time we head to Central, you should talk to him about it."

"Thanks Ed, that's a good idea. At least it's more of a lead than what I previously had. Maybe if I can find something out on my Aunt, I can find more about my parents and why they were searching for the stone as well."

The conversation died down and Ed fell asleep, snoring against the window. Tala leaned towards the wall and slowly drifted off to sleep.

"Brother, we're here." Al figured he would wake Ed up first and let him wake up the sleeping girl. After all, if all girls were like Winry, then he didn't want to be the one to wake her up.

"Brother, get up." He said a little bit louder.

"Huh? Oh hey, we're almost home." Ed groggily said. "How come you didn't wake up Tala yet?"

"Well, I figured you could. I have to check on something real fast." Al slipped out quickly and quietly for a giant suit of armor.

"Well I guess its hope to me. Hope it isn't like waking Winry…" Ed shuddered.

"Tala…Tala, wake up. We are almost in Resembool. Wake up, Tala." Ed was gentle when trying to wake her.

**THUMP**

"Oh! Ed! I'm sorry! I'm not used to people waking me up! Sorry!"

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU PUNCH ME?!"

"It's just reflex! I'm sorry!" She apologized profusely.

"Shit. No wonder Al left it to me to wake you."

"Sorry! I'm just not used to being around others. You know the whole 'fight or flight' instincts? Mine usually say fight." She helped Ed up while still apologizing.

"You have one hell of a right hook, but you need more training." Ed told her nonchalantly.

"I can fight well enough thank you." She retorted, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, I can see how violent you are. You have power behind your hits, but you need more training if you really wanna do some damage."

"I WASN'T TRYING TO DO DAMAGE! IT WAS REFLEX!" At that point Al came back.

"Geez, I could hear the two of you across the train."  
"JUST WHY THE HELL DID YOU LEAVE ANY WAY?"

"I figured if all girls wake up the way Winry does…then its better you than me."

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY AL!"

"Sorry brother."

"ANY WAY! You were saying we are close to Resembool?" Tala interrupted before the boys got too out of hand.

"Yeah. Actually we should be…" Ed was cut off by the screeching of the train's brakes.

"Here." Tala finished, looking out the window.

"Finally! I bet Winry and Pinako will be glad to that we came back for a visit without having to get your auto-mail fixed." Al said cheerily.

"Yeah. Well, they will certainly be surprised."

Tala wasn't listening to them. She had already grabbed her shoulder bag and her small luggage case and was almost off the train.

"She moves fast…" Ed said while looking down the aisle at her retreating from.

"Let's go brother!" Al chased after her, with Ed close behind.

Tala was waiting for the boys on the deck at the station.

"So are you two coming with me or is this where we split off?" She asked.

"Nah. You can't get rid of us that easily." Ed told her.

"Let's go then."

The boys, curious to see if she knew her way around like she said she did, followed behind her. Hopefully they wouldn't run into Winry or Pinako until they made it out to the shop. Ed followed behind her lost in thought.

_She really is something different. She's kind of bipolar. She has seen a lot for someone so young. She's only a year older than me. Granted, Al and I haven't been sheltered either, but for someone who was supposed to be with family, she doesn't exactly have a family life. At least we have Pinako and Winry. I wonder what she's hiding. Part Xingese and Cretan, possibly Drachman, Definitely Amestrian on her mother's side. How is that even possible? I get her dad's parents must have been Xingese and Cretan, somewhere they had to have picked up Drachman. Possible Xingese and Cretan parent with one Drachman parent. Her mother seems to have an all Amestrian family._

Ed broke from his musing when he heard Tala calling for him.

"Come on, Ed! You're gunna get left behind!" He looked up to notice Al and Tala were a considerable ways in front of him.

"Wait for me!" Ed laughed at himself and hurried to the duo walking in front of him.

"Brother, you've been pretty zoned out. What are you thinking of?" Al asked the blonde in front him.

"Just thinking of this mystery behind our new friend here. " Ed said, gesturing to Tala.

"What do you think so far?" She asked him.

"Well, Drachma, Xing and Creta are all pretty far from each other. The possibility of your father having all three in him, well, the chances are very slim. Extremely slim. So I think we are looking at it wrong. It's possible that it's more like Xing and Drachman with a Cretan Partner."

"Does it really matter? I mean when it comes down to it, I'm still pretty much a synthesis of all of it."

"I suppose. Though, it really depends on whose last name is Driscol. When you think about it, Al and I go by our mother's last name, Elric. So it's possible that your family went by your mother's last name."  
"My Aunt's last name is Breda though. Wouldn't my mother's maiden name be the same as my aunt?"

"Hm. That is a good question. There are a lot of possibilities. The whole reason I eve began thinking on this was to figure who we could question. It's possible that your parents went by a different name. Though the colonel said the name Driscol sounded familiar to him. There seem to be clues dangling in our faces, but just far enough out of our reach."

"It's frustrating. I wish my aunt hadn't have been so secretive."

"Yeah. Too bad she didn't give more of a hint. Didn't you say you had a locket with a note in it?"

"Sort of. I had seen it before, but she kept it hidden from me. I don't even know where it's at."

The trio walked in silence the rest of the way to Dr. Marcoh's house. When they finally reached it, they were astonished. The place had been completely ransacked. Nothing was left except papers all over the floor. Immediately, Tala felt disheartened at the sight. Al walked into the other side of the house to further explore and check for any danger. Ed looked back at Tala and frowned. She didn't seem to be the type to give up so easily.

"Hey now, don't give up! We can stay the night here and clean up and see if we can find anything. K?" Ed tried to cheer her up.

She looked at him for a second, then gave him a soft smile. He blushed and looked away while rubbing his head.

"I mean…uh…*cough*…we can't go giving up just yet, right?" Ed laughed.

_I'm a complete moron._

"Thank you, Ed. Really. I'm grateful. You two didn't have to stick with me."

"It's no problem. We don't mind having the company." He smiled back at her.

Ed and Tala sat in silence for a minute.

"Well, let's get started." Tala said, standing up and calling out Al.

They regrouped in the front room of the small house.

"I guess what we can do is get started with the papers. We can pick them up and stack them up. We can go through those last. We can search the rest of the house first." Tala stated, re-iterating Ed's plan.

"Sounds good. Since the papers are scattered all over the house I think we should each take a room. I will take the front room, Tala can take the kitchen, Al can take the hallway and we can all gather around the bedroom and then tackle his office together." Ed planned.

"Sounds good. Until then, let's keep our eyes open to see if we find anything unusual." Tala concluded.

"Right!" Ed and Al said.

They broke off onto their own and began picking up the multitude of papers.

_I swear it's like someone just ran around the house throwing these papers all over the place. Dammit! Is there not an end to all this!_

"EDWARD!" He heard Tala call for him.

He and Al both raced into the kitchen to see what elicited that from the girl. In the kitchen, they looked, but didn't see anything that could probably cause her to scream.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked her, perturbed that she was staring in one spot and not moving.

"Look at the floor under the table."  
Ed and Al looked closely at the floor.

"There's signs of alchemy being used here." Ed said.

"Why hide it under the table…unless…there are secrets hidden behind it?" Tala asked.

"Alright you two, stand back. Just in case." Ed said as he clapped his hands.

Tala and Al stepped back, just a bit though. After Ed transmuted the floor, a small stairway appeared. Al looked upset.

"Brother, I'm not going to be able to fit down there." He said disappointedly.

"Well, you two stay here, I will go check it out." Ed said as he turned around to comfort Al.

All it took was that slight second where Ed was looking, Tala was halfway down the stairs.

"Um…brother, she's already ahead of you."

"Dammit!" Ed ran down the dark staircase after the crazy female. "Tala! Are you that stupid to wonder blindly into a place like this?" Ed screeched after her. He transmuted a torch from the wall and got about halfway down before he felt a knife at his throat.

"In case you were thinking it, I'm not exactly defenseless." She said as she pulled the knife from his throat.

"Well, I can see that now." Ed said with a slight attitude.

"I have training. You should know that as many times as I've drop kicked you."

They had reached the bottom of the stair case now.

"Ed, I get a strange feeling from this place. The chi is bad down here. I don't like it."

"You can go back up if you want. I will wait till you reach the top before I open the door." Ed was attempting to be persuasive and considerate at the same time. There was no telling what was behind that door. He had an uneasy feeling about it too.

"Not a chance." She snorted at him, and he could feel her breath on his neck. They had very limited space, so she was literally almost pressed into his back as he got ready to transmute the door.

"Wait, just a second." She said, transmuting twin daggers, that equaled the length of her forearm.

He eyed the hilt of the daggers, "Nice style," he said in appreciation.

She grinned at him. The daggers had been beautifully sculpted and had a slight demonic look to it.

"One question though. Why did you transmute more weapons when you already have some on you?"  
"Those are just throwing daggers and a hunting knife." She said.

"Oh. Makes sense….I guess."

He went back to transmuting the doors.


	5. Chapter 5

The doors opened with ease and the two stepped into the room. There were dimly lit torches on the walls. The room looked like a small prison. There was a wash area in one corner, next to a bed. A little bit further down the same wall, in the opposite corner to the right, was a shelf and a desk. When they looked further into the room, they noticed one dark corner

"WHO ARE YOU?" A deep voice bellowed.

Tala stepped forward

"I am Tala Driscol. Who are you?" She shouted back to the voice, full of authority.

The thing that lay hidden by the shadows crept closer to them. Ed and Tala readied their weapons, just in case.

"I knew a Tala once." Its voice came out rough and scratchy. It took another step closer to the two. "She was a pretty baby. Back when I was human…" It broke off and started mumbling to itself.

Tala lowered her weapon and walked closer.

"Who are you?" Tala asked in a calmer voice. Ed watched as she attempted to interact with the creature, ready to save her if needed. He stayed silent, knowing this could be a lead for her.

_Why else would Dr. Marcoh send her here? _He thought to himself.

"Who am I?" it asked, its voice animalistic an inhuman. "I haven't thought of my name since I was human. I was human once, yah know?" It said again.

"Who were you as a human?" She asked.

It was close enough now to be identified as a chimera of sorts.

"Human experiment. They captured me and my love. My poor love. She couldn't handle it. They tried to take our baby and she lost her will. Changeling child, we had to. My poor love."

"Tell me about your love." Tala commanded in a soft voice. Ed stayed right by her side.

"Lady was beautiful. She was a beautiful human. They turned her ugly. Made a disgusting creature of her. She didn't want to live. No will. They killed her. Lady was special though. Long hair like bronze. They ruined it. Turned her like me. She hated her reflection. Lady was special. You look like Lady. Do you know what happened to us?"

"They made you into a chimera, didn't they?" Ed asked softly, to avoid setting the monstrosity off.

"You." It said. "You understand. They made you into part robot, like me. They let your beautiful lady stay. Lucky Tala. I hope my Tala lived."

"Your Tala?" Ed and Tala both asked.

"Yes. My Tala is a little baby. They took her from me and Lady." The monstrosity finally came fully into view. "They didn't like us. Told us we were helping the enemy. My fault. Mixed blood. Traitor to the family. She loved me… Lady… Lady loved me."

The thing looked as if it had multiple animals mixed into it. There was no true way of determining what all was combined. It's eyes though, it had unusual eyes.

"Does Lady mean Adelaide?" Ed asked the chimera.

"You know my Lady?" it asked.

"Are you Tao?" Ed asked.

"I was Tao when I was human. Now I am experiment 2. Lady was 3. We had to keep Tala safe. She was going to be 4. My poor baby. My poor Lady. I accepted a changeling child. My poor Tala. Tala had to be safe. She couldn't be an experiment. Her blood is strong. My little golden wolf. Sera found a dead baby at the hospital. Little poor child. She took my baby away. Changeling child protected Tala. Tala is a protector. Legend. Tala has come back. My golden wolf. Special child. My poor Lady. She had no will."

Tala was in shock. This was her father? She braced herself to keep from going weak kneed. She finally found him.

"Where did you come from?" Ed asked him.

"The Last Lab."

"Laboratory Five?" Ed guessed.

"Yes. The last lab. When you go into that lab, you have no hope. They want the power of false hopes. They are evil. Black souled. Made us into monsters. Experiments. They want our blood. Lady was descended from royalty. Driscol. We took her mother's maiden name to hide from them. They found us. They wanted the secret. I paid the price to keep the secret. Human souls. Can't trust them. Doctor helped me escape. Doctor was a sheep among demons. They will kill him."

Tala felt a sense of dread come over her. What the hell happened to her parents?

"Fake humans. They have bad chi. The pulse of the dragon spat on them. They are cursed beings."

"Are they hom…" Tao threw his hand over Ed's mouth. It was scaly and furry at the same time.

"Don't say it. The cursed humans are always listening."

Tala mentally prepared herself to speak to her father. She was having a hard time coming to terms with it.

"One day, I will find my baby. My poor, little baby Tala. When I know she is safe, I will die peacefully. My Lady is waiting for me. My poor Tala."

"Fa-"She broke off. Ed reached down with his auto-mail arm and squeezed her hand gently, to show his support.

"My father's name was Tao. My mother's name was Adelaide. I was brought up by my Aunt Sera."

"Tala? My Little Tala?"

"Father?"

"My Tala. My little baby Tala is all grown up." He reached on of his scaly paws to her. She grasped his hand.

"It's me."

"You have Lady's eyes. They come from the Driscol line." His voice was soft and almost sounded human. He smiled at her.

"Beautiful girl. So pretty, just like mother. They would all be proud."

"Dad," She tried out warily, he beamed his grotesque smile at her,

"Dad." She said with a little more conviction. "Can you tell me about our family?"

"It is almost my time to go now. I held on hoping to see your face, beautiful Tala. You are the legend. Mother would have been proud. So proud, beautiful girl."

"Tell me about when you were human. Tell me about you and mom." Tala nearly begged.

"Mom…my mom was Xingese. Papa was a refugee of Creta. Your mother was Amestrian and Drachman. Her dad hated me. I wasn't worthy of the exiled princess. The cursed humans killed her family. They wanted the power of her blood. The legend and the dragon flow through you. The golden wolf….she had a family when she came back to visit hers….her sons and daughter watched helpless as their mother burned at the stake….poor children…your ancestors…..Poor baby. My Tala. My Lady. Poor, poor baby. My little golden wolf. They want you. Their Father wants the power of your blood. Golden Boy," He suddenly addressed Ed, "Protect my Golden Wolf."

"I will, sir." Ed told him.

"My time is coming close. The stone of false hopes has finally granted my wish and now it is ready to leave my body. Tala, I love you. Daddy is proud of you. So is mommy." His eyes started to roll into the back of his head. "Mommy says she loves you and she is proud you are her daughter. My little baby, Tala. I see her now. It's time for me to go, and I can peacefully now." He was beginning to sound more and more human, but his voice was fading. "Thank you, you released my soul from its prison. I'm sorry, dear daughter. Thank you."

His body turned to dust and a tiny red stone fell out of his chest. The stone crumbled.

"They implanted a fake philosopher's stone into his body and that's what kept him alive."

"Thank you, Ed. For coming with me. You and Al both, I don't think I could have handled this alone." She told him as she slumped to the floor. "He was my father. I finally found him."

"The poor man must have went insane after everything that happened to him. At least you got to see him before he died."

"I can't tell you how long I have dreamt of meeting my parents. Sera was right. I really am cursed. They went through all of this….for me. For my blood." She said shakily.

"You aren't cursed. It's the homunculi. If it weren't for them, you, me, Al, none of us would have to deal with what we are facing now."

"Well, I can say I am grateful to them for one thing. I met you and Al." She said with a laugh as she leaned her head against the wall. Ed stood up and walked over to the desk that sat in the corner of the room.

"Well, your father knew alchemy. But I've never seen transmutation circles like these."

She stood up and joined him on the other side of the room.

"That's alkahestry. It's a different type of alchemy. It's common for medical practices in Xing. I know a bit, but mostly basic stuff. I'm better with Amestrian Alchemy." She told him.

Together, they sifted through his paperwork. Most of it was ramblings of a man trying to keep from going completely insane.

"Hey, Tala, look at this." Ed turned towards her. He held up a book that looked like a diary. A single paper fell out of the book. Ed bent down and picked up the loose paper.

"It's a photo." He said, moving closer so she could see it too. There were three adults, one woman lying in a hospital bed, one stern looking female standing off to the left a bit, but still looking happy. There was a man leaning over the right side of the bed, grinning proudly at her.

"It's you. That must be your mom holding you and your dad behind her. Your mom was really pretty. Is that your Aunt Sera?"

"Yeah. I think you're right." She told him. He looked at her worriedly. She looked absolutely exhausted.

"Well, let's take his diary back up stairs."

"Ok. Sounds good."

They walked slowly back to the stairway when Ed stopped and looked at her.

"What?" She asked him.

He started, "you look just like her."

She smiled faintly at him. He walked in front of her so she couldn't see his blush.

"Thanks." She whispered.

They walked up the stairs slowly, the entire time, Ed was telling her the story of him and his brother. She didn't say anything the entire time. Finally, seeing the light of the kitchen they stepped into the room. Ed told Al not to ask questions, that he would tell him later. Tala didn't really hear what was said. She couldn't hear anything over the rush of blood in her ears. She sat down by the steps, closed her eyes, and placed her hands on the ground. The boys turned and looked at her when they heard a crash.

"No one should ever know of that place down there." She said as she closed the hole in the floor and collapsed the staircase underneath it. She pushed the earth together until there was no sign that there was ever anything there, except the kitchen floor.

Ed nodded his head at her to show his agreement. She stood up, shook her head to the side, and then collapsed. Ed and Al ran to her side from across the room.

"Al, go see if Dr. Marcoh's bed is intact."

Al nodded his head and raced to the end of the hall.

"Its fine, brother, I blew the dust off."

Ed picked up the emotionally drained girl and carried her to the back room to lay her down. After gently discarding her on the bed, and sitting down at the desk by the dresser, Ed began to fill Al in on what happened.

"Wow, she must be exhausted and overwhelmed after finding all that out."

"He had a fake philosopher's stone keeping him alive."

"I guess, since he didn't use it for anything but to stay alive, it didn't rebound on him. But when he was finally ready to move on, it let him die peacefully. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for her to see." Al said, reflecting on his own feelings of their mother's passing.

"Yeah, especially after everything he went through. They didn't just torture his body. They tortured his mind and soul as well. Remember when we were in Lab 5? Those suits of Armor said they were experiments 48 and 66. Tao said his wife and him were numbers 2 and 3. Tala was meant to be number 4. He traded her for a stillborn child and her aunt ran away with her. The homunculus wanted Tala for her blood, because of that legend she told us. Apparently, there is more to it than even she knew."

"Well, its late brother, and you need to sleep too."

"I'll stay here. Don't worry about me, Al."

"You're going to sleep in the chair?"

"Nah. I will transmute it into a cot or something I guess. First, I have something to do though."

Ed got up and walked outside, into the back yard. He pictured what he wanted in his mind, clapped his hands together, and slapped the ground.

**Tao and Adelaide Driscol.**

**Beloved husband and wife.**

**Loving parents.**

**May you finally **

**Rest in Peace.**

He looked up at the clouded night sky and stood up. "I will keep my promise." He said aloud to himself. He brushed off his knees, and headed back in the house.

The next morning, he stretched, looked out the window and saw the sun just peaking over the landscape.

_Almost worth being up early to see such a view._

Ed looked back to the other side of the room, to the empty bed. He jumped up and started searching the house for her. The house was empty, neither she, nor Al were in there. He glanced back down at the wall where they had left their stuff. It was still sitting in the same place as yesterday, though it looked as though it had been rifled through.

He slipped on his boots and walked out to the front yard. There was Tala, barefoot, tank top, short shorts. She looked as though she was working through a self-defense kata.

"You look like you could use someone to spar with." Ed ducked as she through a knife at his head.

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting you to be up so early!" She apologized for throwing the blade at him.

"You know, you're going to have to get over that reflex. Not everyone is an enemy." He deadpanned.

"Sorry!" she said again.

"To the ready." Ed said.

She nodded her head, and slipped into her defense pose. He started with throwing a right punch at her face. She ducked and counterattacked with a blow to his stomach.

"Good, you have quick reflexes. Now I know I don't have to go easy on you." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Ha! I'm the one who will have to go easy on you!" She laughed at him.

By the time Al walked back up to the house, Ed and Tala were both covered in sweat. The way they were dodging and striking at each other made them almost look as if they were dancing.

_I'm pretty sure that's the only time I have ever seen brother actually look graceful._

Al thought to himself, but aloud, he said "Wow! You two are so in synch with each other, you almost look like you are dancing." They both stopped their attacks to glare at him.

Al shrank back in fear, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it as an insult!" He said, waving his hands in a white flag fashion. "Um, you two remember that the water pipes are busted here, so you will have to bath in the stream, right?"

Ed and Tala called out their agreements and got back to the spar. Al sat down and watched them finish.

"Had enough yet?" Ed called out to her.

"Nah. I'm just getting warmed up." She called back as she feinted to the left, and delivered a kick with her right leg.

By now, they were both breathing hard.

"Good! I wouldn't wanna have to baby you through this!" Ed laughed as he sent her sprawling to the ground. He had caught her knee and swept her feet out from under her. He walked over to her and held out a hand to help her up. He was amazed that he had gotten that attack in. She was quick and resilient. A damned good fighter.

"Who taught you to fight?" Ed asked her.

She took his proffered hand, and stood up.

"I learned from a lot of different people. The nomads taught me some of their hand to hand. I learned from someone in Xing. I pretty much just picked things up everywhere I traveled I guess. I didn't really have a formal teacher."

"Well, you did well! Not too bad at all. I guess we have a lot we can learn from each other."

They both walked to opposite sides of the stream. Al sat down beside one of the trees nearby. Ed stripped down to his boxers and jumped in. Tala hesitated a moment, then pulled off her shirt and shorts, revealing her bathing suit.

"I planned on taking a dip in the stream after anyway. It's good for the muscles." She explained when asked about her bathing suit.

She jumped in and relished the cold water on her muscles. She swam around a bit before Ed called out to her.

"I've been meaning to ask. Have you seen it?"

"Seen what?" She swam a little closer to him.

"Truth. You are able to do alchemy without the use of a circle. You've seen truth haven't you?" He asked.

"No." She said, now realizing what he was referring to. She swam to where Ed was leaning onto the bank by Al and held her hands up for inspection.

"On my hands, I have scars that were cut into me. They are thin, and hard to see unless you know what you are looking at. One is an alchemy transmutation circle. One is alkahestran."

"How did you get those scars?" Ed asked, worried that she had carved them into her hands herself.

"I had an alchemy teacher, a long time ago. He was a traveler like me. He told me that he had felt a spark in me when he saw me, and because of that, he knew he would teach me alchemy. He traveled with me for a month, teaching me the basics of alchemy. He was the one who carved my right hand. I had a teacher in Xing who carved my left."

"Wow. Tala, you have had such an intense life." Al said, shock colored his voice. "Not even many alchemists in the military are willing to get the transmutations carved into their skin. They say it's a very painful process."

"I was sick for three days afterwards. My body healed fast though." She said, shrugging it off, not wanting to make a big deal about it.

Ed decided it was time to relax a little bit. It was getting too serious around them for the moment. He dunked himself under water and swam around for a moment. Al and Tala looked at each other and shrugged. When Ed finally broke through the surface of the water, he was right behind Tala. He threw his arms around her and dived back under, effectively dunking her and starting a water war.

Wow. I was totally surprised by this chapter. I was totally going to write a fight scene in the under ground dungeon. What do you think? Should I keep the story in the direction its heading? Do y'all want love between Ed and Tala or Ed and Winry (Who makes her debut next chapter...I think...)? Thanks for reading. :)


	6. Chapter 6

After playing around in the water for a little while longer, the three walked back up to the house. Ed and Tala still in their swimsuits, hurried inside to put on some clean clothing. After they were dressed, they gathered anything of interest from Dr. Marcoh's house and left.

"Man. Winry's is all the way on the other side of town." Ed complained, not wanting to walk all the way.

"Well, the only way we will get there faster, is by putting one foot in front of the other." Tala replied, in the same tone of voice.

They both huffed and decided they might as well start the long trek to the boys' second home. By the time the finally made it in to the town itself, the sun was high in the sky, signaling the evening was drawing closer. The trio walked in a companionable silence for the most part, each contemplating different things. Finally, Tala broke the silence.

"What do you think my father meant by the exiled princess?" she directed at Ed.

"Well, I'm not sure. We really don't have much on Drachman history simply because we have been at war with them for so long. It's going to be hard to find anything. I suppose the central library should have some old texts with something about Drachma in there." Ed broke off his sentence thinking about what else Tao said.

"I think we should look up the different legends on the Golden Wolf." Al pitched in.

"Yeah. I think I want to look more into that as well. He said the 'father' wanted my blood. I can't be the only Xingese, Amestrian mix ever born. It can't just be for having both alchemy and alkahestry in my blood. A lot of people can do both, so that isn't special. I think we need to look up legends on both the golden wolf and the dragon's pulse. According to my dad, I am the mix of both. I just don't understand though. I wish he would have been saner, or we had more time to talk to him. It's hard to imagine just what the hell they did to him. You should have seen him, Al. He wasn't just a chimera. They mixed all kinds of things into him. He wasn't even recognizable as an animal."

"Ed told me. I'm sorry you had to see your dad like that, Tala. I can't imagine how hard that was for you."

Tala shook his words off with a cliché 'I've been through worse.' She and the boys carried on with different ideas on what the homunculi could want with her. They compared ideas on the whole 'sacrifice' thing that Ed and Al are always called as well. Eventually, they made it to the road the Rockbells' lived on.

"We're almost there brother!" Al exclaimed. He was ecstatic! They haven't seen granny or Winry in months.

They hurried down the last stretch of road when the trio came to the yard. As they got closer to the house, Ed slunk further and further behind Al and Tala.

"What are you doing?" Tala asked.

"He's hiding from Winry. Since usually the only time he comes home is when he needs his auto-mail fixed, Winry usually throws a wrench or twelve at him." Al told her.

Tala laughed at that. Ed couldn't get mad at her for laughing as he realized that was the first time he had heard a true laugh out of her. Instead, he sulked.

"It's not funny. It hurts! Just wait till it's you she hits with the wrench." He made a half-hearted defense for himself.

They made it to the door with no projectiles coming from the house. Al walked in first, followed by Ed then Tala. Denn and Granny Pinako came and greeted the visitors first.

"Al, you look well." Granny said as she puffed on her pipe.

"Thanks, granny. This is Tala. She is a friend of ours and helping with our search." Al responded in kind.

"Nice to meet you, young lady. You can call me granny. Everyone else does."  
"Thanks. It's nice to make your acquaintance." Tala responded politely.

"Nonsense. Acquaintances are for business partners. Ed and Al are family and while you are with them, you are family as well." Pinako smiled at the girl, who smiled back.

"Thank you." She said, softly. Granny nodded her head, looked towards Edward and frowned.

"Are you getting shorter?" She asked him, sending him into a short rant.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT AN ANT IS TALLER THAN HIM AND WOULD SQUISH HIM?"

"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE RUNT!" Granny yelled back.

"MIDGET OLD HAG."

"STUNTED GROWTH! YOU WILL NEVER GET ANY TALLER!"

"MY BODY IS BEING USED AS SUSTENANCE FOR AL'S IN THE GATE! I'M GROWING!"

Winry came up from the basement, yelled at the two to knock it off.

"Oh! Hello. I'm Winry." She smiled at Tala who introduced herself in turn.

"Which one are you here with?" Winry grinned deviously, "This is the first time either one of them have brought a girl home to meet us." Winry drifted off, almost mumbling to herself. "You look too old to be Al's but then again, I don't know what you would see in Ed…"

At this point the three travelers sweat dropped and took a step in opposite directions, Ed to the right, Al to the left and Tala, the back.

"NO!" they screamed simultaneously. "Just friends!"

Tala stepped forward again to stop Winry from her musings, seeing as how she completely ignored the denials coming from them.

"We met up because of our quests. I am helping them with theirs in turn for them to help me out with mine. You're familiar with equivalent exchange? Think of it like that. My quest just happened to bring us here to Resembool." She explained.

Winry pouted. "That's no fun. I was hoping the boys finally brought home a girlfriend."

"Why the hell would we bring a girlfriend here? You would frighten her off before she even set foot into the yard! Tala's lucky she didn't have to see the scene you normally create, yah gearhead!" Ed replied snarkily.

If looks could kill, Ed would be feeling it now. Winry eyed him down, making his countenance shrink.

"I…I…didn't mean it as an insult! I prom-THUNK-ise." Ed said as Winry smashed him over the head with a wrench.

Meanwhile, Granny, Al and Tala had vacated to the kitchen to see about dinner. Granny and Winry hadn't started on dinner yet, so Tala offered to help. Tala and Granny started on dinner together while Winry proceeded to beat the crap out of Ed. Al played with Denn on the other side of the kitchen. Tala started on scratch baking some rolls to accompany dinner and Granny started on stew, knowing it was Ed's favorite.

It didn't take long for dinner to cook and soon Winry and Ed had stopped arguing in favor for setting the table and getting ready for dinner. Granny took the stew off the stove as the rolls had finished baking. Tala took the rolls aside, adding a buttered mix to the tops of them. She brought the tray of rolls over to the table and added them to lay out. Everyone sat in their chosen spots and began to pass the food around. Light dinner conversation broke out amongst everyone, and while Tala added a few things here and there, she mostly stayed silent. She felt as though she was intruding on the family scene.

Growing up the way she did, she was rarely afforded the luxury of a family setting. Even in places she stayed for a short while, she still felt as an outsider. Lost in thought, she didn't notice that Winry had said something to her.

"I'm sorry, what? I was thinking about some things my father told me before he died."

"No, that's ok. I was just asking what you and the boys are working on." Winry told her.

"Well, I was just thinking about how these creatures that have been hunting them were also hunting me. I was thinking about all the souls they have tortured in order to accomplish, what? I don't get what they are trying to accomplish. Yeah I get the whole philosopher's stone thing, but what could they use it for? They despise humans but want to become one. It makes no sense at all."

"Well, take a break from that and let your mind rest. It isn't healthy to always brood over things, it will weigh you down. You will end up staying a runt like Ed. That kind of stress can't be good for you to always think about." Winry said to her.

Tala smiled at her, while Ed growled at the short comment.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

Dinner was soon finished and after helping with the cleanup, Tala headed out the back door. She walked out to a nearby field and moon-gazed. She shut her eyes and listened to the natural sounds in the field, hands folded behind her head and ankles crossed. It was so peaceful there. No wonder Al loved it so. It wasn't long before Ed came out after her, claiming he was making sure she didn't get lost.

Tala laughed at the thought.

"Thank you Ed, but rovers don't get lost. We simply, travel the scenic route every once in a while."

Ed laughed along with her, understanding the meaning behind what she said. He laid back in the grass and looked up at the moon.

"Yah know, when Al, Winry and I were kids, we used to do this all the time."

"It wasn't often, but my aunt used to watch stars with me. She always told me the stars were our ancestors' spirits watching over us. She told me my parents were up there watching me grow up, wishing they could be there with me. When I was little, it meant the world to me, though as I got older, I'd forgotten all about that, until tonight.''

They sat in silence for a while. Nearly falling asleep under the stars, the two enjoyed the comfortable quiet between them.


End file.
